1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to cooling appliances generally, and more particularly, to an ice dispensing assembly of a cooling appliance.
2. Related Art
Generally, a cooling appliance includes a fresh food compartment and a freezer compartment which are partitioned from each other to store various foods at low temperatures in appropriate states for a relatively long time.
An ice making system is typically mounted within the freezer compartment. The ice making system makes ice and stores ice cubes in an ice bucket until the ice cubes are requested by a user. The ice cubes are then generally dispensed at an ice dispenser located on an outside door of the freezer compartment.
However, the ice cubes stored in the ice bucket are usually in a relatively stationary state, which can prevent ice delivery through the ice dispenser. For example, the ice cubes in the ice bucket may have formed large clumps of ice since the previous instance of ice dispensing. This creates a problem because stationary and clumped ice cubes cannot readily move through the ice dispensing system for delivery to a user.
FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate different views of a conventional ice dispensing assembly 10. In ice dispensing assembly 10, ice cubes fall from ice maker 50 into the rectangular ice storage bin 60 and are dispensed via ice chute 30. In order to fall from the ice storage bin 60 to ice chute 30 for dispensing, ice must pass from ice storage bin 60 to the ice crushing region 62.
The bottom surface of conventional ice storage bin 60 is defined by a blade cover or plate 44 and a horizontal or nearly horizontal surface 61 surrounding the plate 44. In a conventional ice dispensing assembly 10, ice cubes can get caught on the horizontal or nearly horizontal surface 61. Attempting to prevent that issue, conventional ice storage bin 60 contains an auger 15. A motor 22 is coupled to the auger 15. Motor 22 is also coupled with blades 20 located in ice crushing region 62 below ice storage bin 60. Plate 44 separates ice storage bin 60 from ice crushing region 62. In conventional ice dispensing assemblies, the cross-sectional area of ice crushing region 62 is smaller than the cross-sectional area of ice storage bin 60.
FIG. 11 illustrates a top perspective view of the conventional ice storage bin 60. It can be seen that when looking down into the conventional ice storage bin 60 from the top, plate 44 is above ice crushing region 62. Ice crushing region 62 has blades 20, so in the conventional system, plate 44 is above blades 20. In FIG. 11, blades 20 are seen through opening 33 of plate 44. As shown, the plate 44 covers a significant area of the bottom surface of ice storage bin 60. Moreover, plate 44 covers most of the surface area of ice crushing region 62, and only a limited portion of ice crushing region 62 is exposed. The progression of ice from ice storage bin 60 to ice crushing region 62 is only possible through opening 33 in plate 44. Therefore, the auger 15 or a similar device is necessary in the conventional ice dispensing assembly 10 in order to break up large clumps of ice and encourage stagnant ice through opening 33 so ice can eventually be dispensed. Auger 15 is vertically disposed within ice storage bin 60 and rotates when motor 22 is energized. Auger 15 is deliberately shaped, for example as illustrated in FIG. 10, to impart downward kinetic energy to ice cubes within ice storage bin 60 as auger 15 rotates.
Conventional ice dispensing assemblies with similar configurations generally work as desired. However, they require motorized components, such as augers, in order to pass ice cubes through a very limited opening at the bottom of an ice storage bin. As a result, the energy efficiency of conventional ice dispensing assemblies with similar configurations is less than desired.